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Parents say

Some Language

It's really just the language, with some minor sexuality, but otherwise, I think this is a mild R-rating. If your child is mature enough to recognize the actors involved and understands that he or she should not speak like they do, they should be fine.

Not for Everyone...

I saw this at a press screening with my friend, and it is an excellent movie. It's script and story aren't the best in the world, but the cast gives such good performances across the board that they elevate the whole movie. It's great to see Christian Bale let loose here after such gloomy turns in Batman and Out of the Furnace. But Jennifer Lawrence steals the show and seems to have her third Oscar in the bag, no questions asked. Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper also show up here.
That being said, this movie isn't for everyone. I'm sure my kids would have been bored if they came along with me. I wouldn't not let them watch this, but I just don't think they can appreciate it like I do.

American Hustle is a lot of semi-historical fun

American Hustle is a movie with a clever plot mixing fact and fiction, and features equally clever acting that kids fifteen and up will appreciate, along with their parents. The "R" rating seems to be more for the prolific curse words rather than the violence and sex, the elements of these more in line with current PG-13 movies. In keeping with the 70s timeframe and the nature/fallout of ABSCAM (on which the movie is lightly based), there are some ethnic stereotypes not in line with today's inclusive ideals, just FYI.
That said, this is a movie not to be missed, with magnetizing chemistry and performances -- absolutely electric. Although Argo (which won best picture) probably more accurately portrayed its signature events that occurred at roughly the same point in time, American Hustle, for me, was a far more riveting movie -- and I enjoyed Argo, too.

Not to watch with your teen girl!

This was a fantastic movie, and my husband and I loved it. We had started watching it with our 15-year-old daughter, and thankfully she got bored quickly and left the room, because it would have been very awkward watching it with her-- especially for her dad! They do cut away from showing everything in great detail, but really, when a guy bends a woman over in the toilet stall and lifts her skirt, we don't need to see the rest to know what's going on. My daughter knows about the birds and the bees, of course by now, but I don't want her earliest impressions of sexual intimacy to be the kind that takes place in a toilet stall. Furthermore, the best thing about the movie is the stuff that has to do with the time period-- the retro styles and lingo-- and teens just don't get it. More fun for us parents who lived it.

(FILM CRITICS' ALL TIME ENTERTAINMENT)

This film was okay. There were strong moments. I felt that this was more of a Christian Bail and Amy Adams movie. Jennifer Lawerence and Brad Cooper were both better in Silverlinings Playbook and Jennifer is way better in
The Hunger Games movies. This movie doesn't necessary have a great message nor is it a bad rated R film. I felt that this film was very close to PG-13 except for one scene of sexuality. But it wasn't to bad. 13 year olds should be able to handle it no problem. It's main reason for the R rating was for language and only some sexual content and mild violence.

Good story, but hard to follow

The story idea was interesting and there were a lot of funny parts, but it was kind of hard to follow and there was a lot of yelling. Also, the characters used a lot of bad language throughout the movie. Still, I would recommend it for older teens or adults.

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